Wild Game
Wild Game is a common type of Terrain Special - specifically one of the Minerals. It appears as a brown stag on the overland map, and will always be placed in Forest tiles by default. If the Wild Game tile is within the catchment area of a Town, that town receives an increase of , and its Maximum Population grows by +2. By feeding two thousand inhabitants unconditionally, this terrain special can allow small towns to generate several times as many as otherwise they would. Each Wild Game frees up to two Subsistence Farmers to be reassigned as Workers, as desired, making it a considerable asset in the development of basic infrastructure; most notably, a just-founded Hamlet can change its single Farmer into a Worker, doubling the town's . Wild Game is not affected by bonuses from Town Buildings. It cannot be altered by the Transmute spell, and no new Wild Game minerals can be added to the map after starting the game. Wild Game can be removed from a tile by raising a Volcano in that tile. Corruption temporarily removes the bonuses that Wild Game gives to nearby towns. Description Most towns produce the bulk of their from farming nearby tiles. Most Terrain can be farmed for at least . Wild Game presents another option for the town's collectors: hunting large herbivores for game meat. Such animals are rather rare in sufficient quantities, but Wild Game tiles possess large herds of them. Hunters can then feed a substantial number of people on this plentiful meat. Initial Placement and Terrain Wild Game tiles are fairly common compared to other Minerals. When the world is created for a new campaign, Wild Game will be placed on both Planes in rather-equal quantities. There will likely be around 10-15 Wild Game tiles on a large map, on average. It is however possible (though highly unlikely) for no Wild Game tiles to appear anywhere in the world. Wild Game tiles are always Forest tiles - at least when the game begins. It is possible to change the terrain underneath a Wild Game mineral into a Grassland tile, by use of the Change Terrain or Gaia's Blessing spells - without removing the Wild Game tile itself. The only way to remove a Wild Game mineral is to raise a new Volcano underneath it. This permanently removes Wild Game from the tile - and it cannot be restored. Volcanoes can be created using either the Raise Volcano or Armageddon spells. Mineral Effects Wild Game is a Mineral, and thus provides bonuses to nearby towns. When a Wild Game tile is within the catchment area of a Town, that town receives a bonus of to its food production, and +2 to its Maximum Population. This means that towns near a Wild Game tile (or more!) tend to grow faster. Food Output Bonus When a Wild Game tile is within a town's catchment area, that town receives to its food production rate. This additional food bonus is not affected by any of the town's Buildings. The town will receive regardless of how large it is or which buildings it contains. The extra can have several benefits. For one, it allows more of the town's Farmers to be turned into Workers, thus increasing the town's output -- including when the town is between 1,000 and 2,000 population, where the single Farmer cannot ordinarily otherwise be told to be a Worker instead, adding to the strategic importance of Wild Game for the purposes of quickly building Buildings in cities when funds are limited. As an alternate strategy, the town could simply generate excess food, which is used to feed Normal Units. Excess Food that is not consumed by any citizen or unit is turned automatically into . Maximum Population Bonus When a Wild Game tile is within a town's catchment area, that town's Maximum Population is increased by 2 citizens. This has several important effects: # The town can grow slightly larger than it would without this mineral. If it is a small town with few food sources in its vicinity, an increase of two more citizens can be crucial. Larger towns may end up turning into Capitals as a result of this bonus. # The town's maximum food output is increased correspondingly. This means that the town can turn more of its citizens into Farmers without losing efficiency. Normally, a bonus of +2 allows one more citizen to be turned into a Farmer without feeling this drop in efficiency. # The town's Population Growth rate is increased. The greater the gap between the town's current population and its new maximum population, the more this town's Population Growth is increased. Note that a town's population can never exceed 25. Population Growth takes this number into account as well. However, maximum Food output does not obey this cap - it can go well above 25 if conditions are suitable. Shared Tiles It is possible to build two towns close enough together that their catchment areas overlap. Shared tiles are marked by a red "1/2" label, seen in each town's details screen. When a Wild Game mineral occupies a shared tile, it will give half of its benefit to each town. Therefore, each town will gain only and only +1 to its Maximum Population. Note that it is quite possible for this state to change during play, as new towns are established and existing towns are destroyed. The wild Game's bonuses will be redistributed automatically in such events. Transmutation Wild Game is one of the few Minerals that are not affected by the Transmute spell. If attempting to cast this spell on a Wild Game tile, the game will simply pop-up an error message and refuse to select this tile as the spell's target. Corruption The Corruption spell can be cast on a tile containing Wild Game. In such an event, both the Wild Game itself as well as the tile it's on will cease providing any bonuses to nearby towns. This can result in a large drop in the production of any nearby town. The sudden drop in Maximum Population can also lead to negative Population Growth, which can cause a town to lose a few of its citizens. To combat this, send Shamans or Priests to Purify the affected tile immediately. If several tiles are Corrupted, Wild Game tiles are usually your highest priority for Purification. Several spells, including Gaia's Blessing and Consecration, may also help if they are available. If it is not possible to Purify the tile quickly, you may need to adjust the town's Farmer-to-Worker ratio manually to temporarily remedy the situation. Category:Terrain Specials Category:Minerals